Cotton-cleaner.



F. P. MARQUIS & F. E. RUSSEL.

COTTON CLEANER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 6. 1915.

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Al/omey F. P. MARQUIS & F. E. RUSSEL. V

COTTON CLEANER.

APPLICATION man NOV. 6, 1915.

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45 this specification,

FRANK I.

MARQUIS AND FEABN E. RUSSEL, F BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA.

COTTON-CLEANER. I

Specification of Letters I'atent:

1Patenteol Oct. 3, 1916.

Application filed November 6, 1915. Serial No. 60,136.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, FRANK P. MARQUIS andFEARN E. RUSSEL, citizens of the United States, residing at Birmingham,in the 5 county of Jefferson and State of Alabama,

have invented a new and useful Cotton- Cleaner, of which the followingis a specification. i

This invention has reference to cotton cleaners and its object is toremove dust and dirt and other deleterious material from c0tton whilepassing from wagons or other containers to the cotton gin. 7

It is customary to employ suction to con 1 vey the cotton from thewagons 'or other containers to the. gin, and in the suction duct thedevice of the present invention is located.

The invention includes beaters adapted to loosen up the cotton on itsway to the gin,

together with screens through which fine mater1al such as dust or dirtmay pass, and pockets designed to catch and hold heavier material suchas stones, nails and the like which may have become associated with thecotton. The doors are so arranged as to be held in closed position byatmospheric pres sure, advantage being taken of the condition ofsub-atmospheric pressure within the duct for maintaining the doors inthe closed 3 position, while the machine is in operation,

so that the accumulations of material removed from the cotton becomeautomatically dumped when the suction ceases. In order to prevent losswhich, might occur because of the passage of some cotton fibers through'the screens employed in the device of the present invention, provisionis made for the propulsion of such cotton to and through a passageleading into the suction duct on the 40 gin side of the cleaner,

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of thefollowing detailed description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings forming .part of with the further understandingthat while the drawings show a practical form of the invention, thelatter is not confined to strict conformity with the showing of thedrawings, but may be changed and modified so long as :such

changes and modifications come withinrthe Fig. 51s a' section of therefuse collecting hopper in the dumping position, said section beingsimilar to that of the similar parts shown in. Fig. 1, but illustratinga different operative position of the parts.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a casing 1, connected atopposite ends to ducts 2, 3. The 'ductQ is assumed to be arranged afterthe ordinary custom for receiving the cotton before being ginned and theduct 3 is assumed to be a portion of the customary duct through whichthe cotton is directed to the gin. The casing 1 may be both higher andwider than the ducts, but such features are not material to the presentinvention. That portion'of the casing 1, which constitutes the bottomof'the casing is in the form of a hopper l with slanting ends 5 that maybe as wide as the casing and rise toward the corresponding ends of thecasing. At-the lower-ends the slanting bottom portions 5are spaced apartin the di rection of the length of the casing to provide an opening 6adapted to be closed by a door 7 o'fa casing in the particularconstruction shown.

7 to close against.

The body of the casing is traversed'by a number of shafts 9 extendingthrough sides Abutment strips 8 are provided for the door lengthsubstantially the width of the of the casing and terminating in journals10 having bearings llat each end in plates 12 secured torespective-opposite sides of the casing 1.. Each shaft carried asuitable number of beater rods or arms 13 so ar ranged that the arms ofone shaft are intermediate to those of the other shaft. Secured to theunder face of the top of the casing are pendently directed rods liso ar-.closed. Furthermore,

ranged as to be located over each shaft 9 intermediate of the beaterrods 13 thereon. The end shafts 9 carry sprocket wheels 15 at respectiveopposite ends and the intermediate shaft 9, there being three shafts inthe particular showing of the drawings, carries sprocket wheels 16 atopposite ends. Bach sprocket wheel 16 is connected to a respectivesprocket wheel 15 by a sprocket chain 17 and the intermediate shaft isprovided with a pulley 18 for the application of power thereto. Thearrangement is such that when the pulley 18 is driven, the shafts allrotate in the same direction, and the heaters will engage in the cottontraveling through the casing on the way to the gin.

The revolving beater rods 13 in conjunction with the stationary rods 1 1effectively beat up the cotton and prevent the passage of lumps ofcotton into the gin.

Located within the casing 1 at the ends at or below the level of theconduits 2 and 3, are shelves 19, 20 respectively which project a shortdistance into the casing. Attached to the shelf 19 is a screen 21.extending across the casing, said screen stopping at a cross bar 22.Extending from the shelf 20 is a screen 23 directed toward the shelf 19and stopping at a cross bar 24c. Between the cross bars 22 and 24; arepairs of cross bars 25, 26 spaced apart with the bars of each pair alsospaced apart in the direction of the length of the casing. The spacebetween the pair of bars 25 is bridged by a screen 27 and the spacebetween the bars 26 is bridged by a screen 28. All the bars and screensextend cross-wise of the casing in elevated relation to the bottom ofthe chamber or hopper 4: with the screens 21, 23, 27 and 28 properlyrelated to the rotatable beater arms or rods 13 to permit the rotationof the beater-s in comparatively close relation to the screens.

Hinged at one edge to the bar 22 is a gate or door 29 capable of closingagainst the neighboring bar 26. Hinged at one edge to the other bar 26is a gate or door .30, capable of closing against the neighboring door25. Hinged at one edge to the other bar 25 is a gate or door 31, capableof closing against the door 24. Pivotally connected to the gates ordoors 29, 30 and 31 is a link 32 so arranged as to open or close thedoors simultaneously. The link 32 is connected to the door 7 by anotherlink 33 so that on opening or closing the door 7 the other doors arecorrespondingly opened or the door 7 is provided with a stop member 34whereby its opening movement is arrested at such a point that onsub-atmospheric conditions being established within the casing 1, theinrush of air through the opening 6 will, by its effect upon the door 7,cause the latter to close and thereby close the other doors casing closeto the point of connection of the casing with the duct 3.

In the operation of the invention rotary motion is imparted to thebeater rods or arms 13 by power applied to the pulley 18 and suction isapplied to the cotton duct leading to the gin in the usual manner, sothat a stream of cotton from the supply to be ginned, is caused totravel through the casing 1 toward the gin, the direction of travelbeing indicated by appropriate arrows in the ducts 2 and 3. While thecotton is traveling through the casing 1, it is subjected to the beatingaction of the beater arms or rods 13, and these in conjunction with thestationary rods or bars 14, thoroughly to agitate, beat up, and separatethe cotton. The result is that all accumulations of dust and dirt whichmay be present in the cotton are beaten out and all heavier particlessuch as stones, bits of metal, sticks, or the like are beaten out of thecotton mass, and because of their weight drop upon the screens andultimately into the pockets between the cross bars, said pockets havingtheir bot tom portions formed by the doors 29, 30

and 31, which are arranged beneath the respective shafts 9.

During the operation of the machine, and especially when the doors 29,30, and

31 are opened, it sometimes happens that some loose cotton drops intothe hopper 1, and the stream of air caused by the suction carries alongthe light cotton toward the duct 3 even though it is imprisoned by thescreens in the hopper 4. The cotton thus imprisoned readily rolls up theinclined wall 5 toward the exit end of the casing and ultimately escapesthrough the passage 35 into the duct 3 to be finally directed to thegin. All matter too heavy to be carried along by the air stream dropsupon the doors 29, 30 and 31, while any heavy matter which may find itsway through the screens above the hopper, gravitates' down the inclinedwalls 5 into the pocket of which the door 7 constitutes the bottom. Thescreens employed may be either wire screens or may be of perforatedmetal, while the arrangement of the screens and doors is such as toaccommodate accumulations of matter separated from the cotton during thetime of continuous operation, the doors automatically opening todischarge the accumulations whenever the machine is stopped.

Heavy dirt, stones, nails and other like doors open 7 substances areliable to injure the gin saws or some of the substances may set fire tothe gin by striking the saws. Such disastrous consequences are avoidedby the present invention, which has been found in actual practice toeffectively remove all such substances from the seed cotton on its wayto the gin. Moreover, the beaters, While serving to loosen deleteriousmaterial from the cotton, also so loosen up the cotton that it isprevented from getting into the gin in lumps, which condition is liableto choke down the gin.

What is claimed is:

1. A cotton cleaner adapted to be interposed in a with a plurality ofheaters therein in the line of travel of cotton through the casing,

said casing having pockets therein and above the bottom of the casingand individual to and located beneath the beaters, each pocket having adoor constituting the bottom of the pocket, and a single member of thebottom of the casing below and connected to the doors and responsive tothe establishment of sub-atmospheric pressure within the casing tosimultaneously close all the doors and hold them in the closed position.

2. A cotton cleaner comprising a casing adapted to be interposed in asuction duct to form a part thereof, said casing having beating meanstherein for the cotton, with screen means underlying the beating means,said screen means constituting receiving means for accumulations ofmatter removed from the cotton, and provided with openings for theescape of the accumulations, said casing also having an opening for theescape of accumulations, and closures for all the openings connectedtogether for simultaneous movement with the closure for the opening inthe casing responsive to the production of sub-atmospheric pressure inthe casing to move to the closed position, and thereby move the otherclosures to the closed position.

8. A cotton cleaner adapted to be interposed in a suction duct for acotton gin comprising a casing through which the cotton is carried bythe air stream produced by the'suction, rotary beaters in the casing,screens underlying the casing and shaped to form pockets under theheaters for the reception of accumulations of matter separated from thecotton, said screen means having openings therethrough for the escape ofthe accumulations with closures for said openings and the casing havinga bottom chamber with an escape opening and closure therefor, the firstnamed closures and the closure for the opening in the bottom of thecasing being connected together for simultaneous movement, and the lastnamed closure being responsive to sub suction duct, comprising a casingatmospheric conditions within the casing to move to the closed position,and thereby move the other closures to the closed position. 7

4. A cotton cleaner comprising acasing adapted to be interposed in asuction duct for conveying cotton into a cotton gin, boaters for thecotton mounted in the duct, receiving means for accumulations ofmaterial separated from the cotton, said receiving means being locatedin the casing below the beaters and above the bottom of the casing andprovided with openings for the escape of accumulations of material andwith closures for said openings, and said casing having in its bottom anopening and a closure therefor with the latter connected to thefirst-named closures and movable to the closed position by theestablishment of sub-atmospheric conditions within the casing andthereby causing'the movement of the other closures to the closedposition, and said receiving means having a passage adjacent to theoutlet end of the casing for the escape of cotton falling through theopenings in the receiving means when the closures for said openings arein the open position.

5. A cotton cleaner adapted to be interposed in a suction duct forcotton, comprising a casing with means therein for engaging andagitating the cotton passing therethrough, screening means in the casingat a lower level than the agitating means, and located above the bottomof the casing, and provided with passages therethrough, and the casingalso being provided with a bottom passage, and closures for the passagesthrough the screening means and bottom of the casing, with the closuresconnected together for simultaneousmovement, and the closure for thepassage through the bottom of the casing responsive to sub-atmosphericpressure established within the casing to move to the closed position,and thereby move the other closures to a like position.

6. A cotton cleaner adapted to be interposed in a suction duct,comprising a casing adapted to be included in the duct, cotton beatingmeans in the casing for engaging cotton passing therethrough under theaction of suction established inthe duct, screening means for the cottonlocated in the duct below the beating means, said screening means havinga constantly open passage adjacent the outlet end of the casing for themovement of cotton passing through the screen into the suction end ofthe duct, dumping means for accumulations on the screening means andother dumping means in the casing below the screening means andconnected to the first named dumping means for causing movements of thelatter simultaneous with and by movements of the second-named dump ingmeans, said second-named dumping as our own, We have hereto aflixed oursigmeans helng responsive to sub-atmospherlc natures 1n the presence oftWo wltnesses.

pressure within the casing to be maintained FRANK P. MARQUIS. in theclosed position by atmospheric pres- FEARN E, RUSSEL. sure and therebymaintain the first-named Witnesses: dumping means in the closedposition. L. O. FALLIN,

In testimony, that We claim the foregoing CHAS. M. DEUNE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

